A cap on rent increases of as little as 2pc could come into force as early as next month. The Housing Minister is doing up the new measures, which would see rents rising in line with general inflation to a maximum value of 2pc.
The measure was introduced as there were concerns that landlords were imposing rent increases of up to 8% on tenants once the temporary ban on evictions and a rent freeze during lockdown was lifted.
Despite moving to link rent increases to inflation earlier this year, the measure quickly backfired after the inflation rate used to determine rents in rent pressure zones (RPZs) shot up to 3pc.
Previously, RPZs saw rent caps set at 4pc, which soon became a target for some landlords when increasing rents. Rent increases now stand at 4.3% due to inflation. Higher than the previous rent cap.